It has been 14 years since Alice in Chains released a studio album. Between 1995 when their self-titled album was released and now, they have had two live albums, their MTV Unplugged performance and another live compilation album.

Layne Staley, the original lead vocalist of the band, died April 5th, 2002 at the age of 34. He was found dead in his condo, weighing only 86 pounds... for a man that stood 6'1". It was determined that he died of a speedball overdose (a speedball is cocaine and heroin, a stimulant and depressant, combined in the same needle). It was a tragic day for the music industry and music-listening public... but unfortunately, it was to be expected.

Staley was the true heart and foundation of Alice in Chains. His depression, his suffering and his pain was what brought him musical inspiration. Without it, he wouldn't have been so musically talented. However, that isn't to say that Jerry Cantrell, Sean Kinney and Mike Inez aren't amazing musicians and extremely musically talented... they contribute to Alice in Chains as much as Staley did... its just that Staley carried the emotional flow of the band, darkened it with his tone and depressive timbre in his voice.

Songs like "Nutshell" and "Dirt" prove that Layne was seriously depressed and was definitely either suicidal or self-destructive (as shown by his chronic drug use and ultimate overdose). He obviously wanted to escape from the pain...

Nutshell:

My gift of self is raped
My privacy is raked
And yet I find
And yet I find
Repeating in my head
If I can't be my own
I'd feel better dead

Dirt:

I want to taste dirty, stinging pistol
In my mouth, on my tongue
I want you to scrape me from the walls
And go crazy like you've made me

This blog has been a little while in the making. I have been listening to the new studio album "Black Gives Way to Blue" for a couple weeks now, just to get a feel for all the songs and to give it enough time to sink in for evaluation. Most of the time, with things like games, I'm quick to jump on the praise wagon and blog about it. But not this time... this time I wanted to give the album enough time to sink in. Since Alice in Chains holds a special place in my music-listening heart.

When I listened to it for the first time, I was kind of disappointed. It seemed underwhelming and kind of "half-empty" with Staley gone and all. I'm not sure if it had to do with my having to "switch" over to accepting the new vocalist, William DuVall, or that I was too tired to appreciate it to its fullest (I listened to it at 12:30 in the morning). The next day however, when I got it onto my USB stick for my car stereo, everything began to change.

I started listening to the lyrics more closely and started appreciating the meaning behind the songs. Sean Kinney, the drummer was quoted: "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think of him [Staley]. And there's a lot to address, with all of that stuff coming to the forefront. A lot has happened since 1995, a lot has happened in our lives and we've never talked about it or discussed it publicly. So some of that is what's addressed here. That's the way we operate, it's about what really happened in life. We're not really the fast cars and chicks songs. It's basically what's happened in life, but a lot has happened since the last record. And it's on this record."

There is absolutely nothing truer a statement as that. Basically every single track on the album has to do with Layne and the developments since his death. The entire album itself is somewhat of a eulogy for Layne. Jerry Cantrell, the lead guitarist and backup vocalist gets a fair share of lead singing parts on "Black Gives Way to Blue." Which is fitting, given that, from what I understand, Cantrell was closest to Layne while they were together. Cantrell's vocals in some of the tracks (specifically "Your Decision" and "Black Gives Way to Blue") are exceptionally moving. Knowing his relationship with Layne and what he is singing about brought me to tears a couple times.

As for DuVall, he is a great vocalist, very talented and brings a lot of new styIe to the Alice in Chains table. I'm not sure if I've come to accept him yet, but most certainly can he sing and sing well, and all the time his vocals are exceptional throughout the album.

Now, to go through the album, track-by-track, and tell you how I feel about each one.

"All Secrets Known"

This is a perfect song to open the album. Obviously they chose it for this exact reason. It talks about a "new beginning," "time to start living," "there's no going back to the place we started from" and "time to start healing." Definitely relating directly to Layne's death and them as a band and friends having to move on and start living their lives anew, despite the loss of their dear friend and bandmate. Sombre in tone, yet somewhat uplifting at the same time. A great track.

"Check My Brain"

From Wikipedia: "The second single, "Check My Brain", features lyrics dealing with Cantrell's move from Seattle to Los Angeles in 2003." I'm not exactly completely sure about this track yet. Its heavy, distorted and typical Chains fare. The lyrics definitely do deal with Cantrell's move to California, but beyond that, I don't get much in the way of a connection to Layne.

"Last of My Kind"

Another good and heavy track. From what I understand from the lyrics and tone of the song is that it is written from Layne's perspective. "Trapped in the cold outside there ain't no shelter and they want to force my hand until I take what I wanted and break all their lies and defeat the f***ing liars smash all the temples and crawl through the rubble and cry to the fallen." I'm not sure if I'm right, but that's what I get from it. It seems to reference his feeling of loneliness and abhorrence of religion and God and subsequently the church (see: "God Am" and "Godsmack").

"Your Decision"

When I first heard this track, I didn't fully understand the lyrics. The second time, I got it almost immediately and it brought me to tears. The problem was, I was driving to university at the time, and it caught me by surprise... so I had a hard time driving for a couple seconds.

This track is probably my favourite on the album, perhaps tied with "Black Gives Way to Blue" but I'm unsure. It is a direct statement from Cantrell to Staley. He expresses his feelings about the loss of Layne directly, and summizes how he thinks Layne must have felt about life. The entire song is worth quoting here.

Time to change has come and gone. Watched your fears become your god. It's your decision. It's your decision. Overwhelmed, you chose to run. Apathetic to the stunned. It's your decision. It's your decision. You feed the fire that burned us all when you lie. To feel the pain that spurs you on, black inside. No one plans to take the path that brings you lower and here you stand before us all and say it's over. It's over.

It might seem an afterthought. Yes, it hurts to you know you're bought. It's your decision. It's your decision. You feed the fire that burned us all when you lie. To feel the pain that spurs you on, black inside. It's your decision. It's your decision.No one plans to take the path that brings you lower and here you stand before us all and say it's over. It's over.

My absolutely favourite part of the song is when Cantrell sings about "To feel the pain that spurs you on, black inside." That is exactly what I could get from almost every song Staley sung on all the previous albums, EP's and live performances. The pain that spurred him on... but ultimately led to his demise. Truly an amazing track.

"A Looking In View"

This was the first song released as a single back in early August. It was uploaded to Youtube and I converted the .flc file to a .mp3 and immediately put it on my USB stick for my car. I couldn't stop listening to it. If "Your Decision" and "Black Gives Way to Blue" weren't on the album, I'd probably put it on top as my favourite. Its massively heavy, and very dark. Exactly what I was expecting from the new Alice in Chains. The perfect track to release as a single (at least for me).

The song seems to be another one similar to "Last of My Kind," except not so much from Layne's perspective, but from the band's perspective about Layne's views. "A looking in view too long on the outside. Desperate plans make sense in a low life. It's why you never tell me whatever's on your mind."

Wikipedia: Regarding the lyrics to other specific songs, Cantrell said the first single from the album, "A Looking in View", "basically speaks to any number of things that keep you balled up inside."

"When the Sun Rose Again"

The next big acoustic track on the album. A very dark, ominous and sombre track. Again, this one is obviously a statement to Layne about his depression. "Run, run 'til you drop. Hide, everyone knows. Pray, squeal when you're caught. Cry, it's not my fault. Seems you prophesied all of this would end. Hate, long wearing thin. Negative, all you've been." Layne, through blatant expression of his depression in his songs, had "prophesied all of this would end," which is most evidenced in the already quoted "Dirt" about the tasting of a gun, and scraping him off the wall. Except he didn't off himself with a gun, just more slowly and painfully.

"Acid Bubble"

This track confuses me a little. One the surface, it sounds like two half-tracks combined into one, for a lack of more material. I'm not sure why they chose to so drastically change up the styIe at various points in the song, but the lyrics do speak for themselves. "I am the child that lives and cries in a corner, dies in a corner." Yet another track that is most likely from Layne's perspective.

"Lesson Learned"

This, along with "Take Her Out" and "Check My Brain" are my least-listened to songs. Also, my least favourite. Though, they are still good, their message seems a little unrelated and/or muddled. Which kind of detracts from the quality and enjoyment.

"Take Her Out"

I'm certain that both "Lesson Learned" and "Take Her Out" are references to something in the lives of the band members that is explained in these two songs, given how Kinney explained that the entire album was a recollection of events leading up to that point.

"Private Hell"

Dark, ominous, sombre, sad and haunting. I am still deciphering this song, and haven't fully grasped the complete magnitude of the lyrics. It is a very complicated song that I think has a lot to do with Staley's depression and inwardness. I'm not quite sure, despite listening to it quite a bit already. I'll probably come back and add more to this section later. A very, very good song that almost gives "Your Decision" and "Black Gives Way to Blue" a run for their money.

"Black Gives Way to Blue"

This song reminds me very much of "Nutshell," but it is still very different. Its structure is basically the same, with two verses and a chorus, but this song is much darker, much sadder and much more emphatic of the pain suffered after Layne's death. However, it is also a point at which the album's eulogy comes to an end, and it stresses that its time to say goodbye and move on.

"I don't wanna feel no more. It easier to keep falling. In my tensions of pain, emptiness all. Tomorrow's haunted by your ghost. Lay down, black gives way to blue. Lay down, I'll remember you. Fading out by design, consciously avoiding changes. Curtains drawn now it's done, silencing all. Tomorrow's forcing a goodbye. Lay down, black gives way to blue. Lay down, I'll remember you."

I've read that a version of the song available on iTunes features Elton John on the piano... but I don't personally have an iTunes account, though I wish to get both it and the live version of "Your Decision." The fact that both those songs are exclusive to iTunes, and the best songs on the album, is devious.

It was both "Your Decision" and "Black Gives Way to Blue" that made me cry the first time I heard them. Only the first time though. After realizing the meaningful nature of the lyrics, I've come to appreciate them in tandem to the music itself.

So there it is. My discourse on Alice in Chains' new album "Black Gives Way to Blue." It is definitely everything I was expecting from the band, despite the loss of Layne Staley. William DuVall is a fine addition to the lineup and makes for a great replacement vocalist. I think what makes him perfect for the part is that he hasn't tried to fill Layne's shoes, since that would be impossible. He just brought a new voice to the table and they built the album around him.

I very much enjoy listening to this in my car when driving around and singing karaoke along with it. A fantastic album, that definitely lives up to what the old Alice in Chains achieved, despite the loss of Layne. I definitely would recommend it to any Alice in Chains fan (I'm looking at you GabuEx).